Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord 1  struck 2  Herod 3  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. 4 

Acts 19:40

19:40 For 5  we are in danger of being charged with rioting 6  today, since there is no cause we can give to explain 7  this disorderly gathering.” 8 

Acts 23:35

23:35 he said, “I will give you a hearing 9  when your accusers arrive too.” Then 10  he ordered that Paul 11  be kept under guard in Herod’s palace. 12 

1 tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

2 sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

3 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4 sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).

5 tn Grk “For indeed.” The ascensive force of καί (kai) would be awkward to translate here.

6 tn The term translated “rioting” refers to a revolt or uprising (BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 2, 3). This would threaten Roman rule and invite Roman intervention.

7 tn Or “to account for.” Grk “since there is no cause concerning which we can give account concerning this disorderly gathering.” The complexity of the Greek relative clause (“which”) and the multiple prepositions (“concerning”) have been simplified in the translation consistent with contemporary English style.

8 tn Or “commotion.” BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 gives the meaning “a tumultuous gathering of people, disorderly/seditious gathering or commotion…Ac 19:40.”

9 tn Or “I will hear your case.” BDAG 231 s.v. διακούω has “as legal t.t. give someone an opportunity to be heard in court, give someone (τινός) a hearing Ac 23:35”; L&N 56.13 has “to give a judicial hearing in a legal matter – ‘to hear a case, to provide a legal hearing, to hear a case in court.’”

10 tn Grk “ordering.” The participle κελεύσας (keleusas) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun here due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence. “Then” has also been supplied to indicate the logical and temporal sequence.

11 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

12 sn Herod’s palace (Grk “Herod’s praetorium”) was the palace built in Caesarea by Herod the Great. See Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 (15.331). These events belong to the period of a.d. 56-57.